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Battle of Scilly
The Battle of Scilly (21 June 1763) was a naval engagement fought by the British Royal Navy against the combined fleets of the Grandelumieran and Spanish Royal Navies, during the War of the British Succession Eighty-three British ships led by Admiral Edward Hawke aboard HMS Royal George were defeated by seventy-nine Grandelumierian and Spanish ships under the Comte de Beaumont and the Marqués de Villena 5 miles (8 km) east of the Isles of Scilly. The Grandelumierian-Spanish victory decimated the Royal Navy and paved the way for the Duc de Mortemart to cross the Channel unmolested some days later as well as raising the question of British dominance of the seas. In the battle, Edward Hawke was killed by mukset fire and thus became immortalized as an English war hero as well as an unoffical warcry for British sailors and soldiers alike for the duration of the war. Background In 1763, tensions between Great Britain and Grandelumiere were reaching a boiling point. Despite being former allies in the Ten Years War, the countries had been polarizing to opposite sides of the European diplomatic spectrum in its wake. By the spring of 1763, Grandelumiere had taken up the banner of the Jacobite cause by the design of the Duc de Penthièvre, Louis XIV's finance minister and prepared an extensive invasion of the British Isles. The main Grandelumierian fleets from Brest and Toulon had been gathered at Brest and planned to sail in strength into the English Channel to deter any expedition against the squadrons intended to transport troops over the sea. Contrary to the Grandelumierian army, the Grandelumierian navy was filled with experienced and disciplined officers, as was the Royal Navy, who committed their finest stock to the battle. The Comte de Beaumont, who led the joined Brest-Toulon fleets, sailed from harbor on the 17th and sailed west to join with a Spanish fleet which had been dispatched by Charles III under the Marquis de Villena, as apart of Spain's joining in the Jacobite war. L'Abénaquise ''had sighted the thirty ship strong fleet sailing north many miles off of the Breton coast, and Beaumont was determined to join with them before sailing into English waters. To cover his flank, he dispatched the Comte de Conflans with twenty ships of the line to sail between the coast and the island of Ouessant, and rejoin with Beaumont off of the Isles of Scilly. Conflans was defeated suddenly at the Battle of Ouessant by the culprit of Dunkerque, George Rodney, who crippled Conflans' fighting ability and then retired to Plymouth with his damaged squadron. Beaumont, then linked with Villena, sailed towards England, not knowing of the defeat at Ouessant. Meanwhile, British ships at port in Swansea, Newport, and Cardiff set sail and joined in the Bristol Channel under the command of Edward Hawke. The Earl of Egmont, First Lord of the Admiralty, had arranged for ten new frigates to be put to sea and ships from across the Empire brought home in anticipation for the invasion, and gave Hawke command over this new armada. Knowing of Grandelumierian naval plans, Hawke sailed for Scilly in full force with favorable winds and weather, meanwhile, Beaumont was rocked with poor seas and shifting winds as he neared Scilly. Battle In preparation for battle, Beaumont ordered his fleet to be arranged into two incredibly long columns as he sailed east of the Scilly Isles. Beaumont believed that his most probable chance of victory would be in splitting the British naval line into thirds and trapping the middle third between his two columns. Hawke had no idea of this intention and sailed westward from the English coast, expecting to pass Scilly to the west. At 9:15 in the morning, HMS ''Hercules sighted the allied columns approaching the slightly convex English line at a slow speed, though Hawke's favorable winds began to dwindle. The eastward column was lead by Beaumont on his flagship, Soleil-Royal. The westward column was led by the Marqués de Villena aboard Real-Fénix. Beaumont had his heaviest ships leading the columns while his smaller ships tailed them, though many began to lag behind as the winds remained against them. As the allied navy approached the English, Hawke issued his final orders, ending with a signal stating, "For England". At 9:30, HMS St. George fired the first shot at Real Fénix. Hawke's flagship, the 100-gun monstrosity, HMS Royal George followed suit against Soleil Royal. Within another ten minutes, all English ships within range delivered broadsides to the advancing columns, who were still unable to fire, though a southernly gale began to form, picking up the speed of the advance. By 9:50, the Marqués was in the surgery of Real Fénix, ''having his leg amputated after receiving shrapnel from a cannonball, all the while the ship took on water. Soon the second Spanish ship in the column, ''Rayo, overtook Real Fènix, who began to drift westward, and broke the English line and was thus engaged by HMS Cornwall, Bedford, and Prince Frederick. Beaumont's flagship continued to advance and draw up beside Hawke's HMS Royal George, while also receiving fire from HMS Grafton. ''Eventually, Beaumont became wary of his odds against ''Royal George and boarded the vessel. While a melee raged on Royal George, the second ship in the Grandelumierian column, Duc de Bourgogne ''continued on to break the English line and took on HMS ''Princess Amelia ''on the port side and HMS ''Resolution ''on her starboard, locking in fierce combat for two hours. Meanwhile, the Spanish column was led to great success by ''Rayo, while Real Fénix began to sink not long after the death of Admiral Villena, who died of blood loss during his amputation. Galicia, ''who followed ''Rayo engaged HMS Princess Royal and enabled more Spanish ships to begin surrounding the English middle. At 10:45, on the deck of HMS Royal George, which had stopped firing after her gunners came above deck to repel the marines of Soliel-Royal, Admiral Hawke was struck in the stomach by a musket ball from the pistol of the Baron d'Ardon. Hawke was carried below decks where he soon died, and Royal George ''surrendered. Around the same time, HMS ''Princess Amelia ''began to flounder and sink, along with HMS ''Resolution ''and both ships struck their colors, though they both went under an hour later. With ''Duc de Bourgogne ''free, she moved on north and fired upon HMS ''Terrible. Ten minutes later at 11:20, a cannonball from Galicia ''struck HMS ''Princess Royal ''in her powder charge and she exploded with an awesome display of inferno. Subsequently, the Spanish column joined the Grandelumierian and the trap shut. One by one, the English ships within the isolated middle struck their colors and surrendered, while the easterly third broke off and retreated southward, engaging the Grandelumierian column along the way with the wind against them. The scene quickly descended into chaos and HMS ''Sandwich, Richmond, Stag, ''and ''Tweed ''were sunk, though HMS ''Sandwich ''managed to sink the frigate, ''Rose. To the west, the remainder of the English line continued to sail westward, away from the Spanish column, which splintered and lost adequate communication and thus pursued the English without any clear orders in a disorderly fashion. In this pell-mell confusion, HMS Lys, Hampton Court, Swiftsure, Warspite, ''and ''Devonshire ''were sunk in the course of two hours and HMS ''Union ''was severely battered and later ran aground of the rocks of Scilly. On the Spanish side, ''Reina, Contendo, ''and Tigre were destroyed. By 1:00 in the afternoon, the battle had ceased, with the Spanish and Grandelumierian fleets standing as the undisputed victors. Beaumont, who had been wounded himself in the melee on ''Royal George remarked to his officers, "Gentlemen, I see now we have most certainly made history on this day. We have triumphed against the devil in his own native Hell." Aftermath With Hawke killed in action and the fleet at Scilly split in two; one squadron of twenty-five ships sailed northwest for Ireland under the effective command of Captain Thomas Warwick, while one squadron consisting of fifteen ships very badly damaged sailed for Portsmouth under Captain William Holbourne. Of the sixty-seven ships that the English sailed into battle with, only forty escaped. Of those forty, two ships, HMS Edgar ''and HMS ''Stirling Castle were forced to be wrecked off of Dublin and the entire squadron of fifteen that sailed to Portsmouth was trapped in harbor days later by the pursuing Grandelumierian fleet and eventually scuttled. In total, of the fourteen ships captured by the allied navy, three ships, the HMS Falmouth, Lancaster, ''and ''Anson were severely damaged and forced to be wrecked off of Saint-Brieuc. Another ship, HMS Monarch, escaped and began sailing for the English coast, though it suffered a mutiny and her crew tore down the Royal Navy's colors and sailed for the West Indies with intentions of piracy. The battle proved to be a disaster for the Royal Navy, which had boasted to rule the seas for decades, now stood defenseless against Grandelumierian domination at sea and consequently, on land. The victory enabled the bulk of Grandelumierian forces to sail for their respective destinations in the British Isles and a short time later, Portsmouth would fall to Grandelumierian troops, Charles Stuart declared himself in Scotland, and a Grandelumierian army rallied Irish Jacobites in County Cork. Upon hearing word of the battle, the Duc de Penthièvre wrote, "There has never been a victory so decisive as to decide the very fate and future of the world."Category:War of the British Succession Category:Grandelumierian Battles